New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 867 



ARE SPRAYED CUCUMBERS AND MELONS POISONOUS? 



The question has been asked, may not sprayed cucumbers be 

 poisonous? They who ask this question reason, that, as the 

 cucumber gets its nourishment from the vine which takes its 

 food through the roots and leaves, if the leaves and the soil about 

 the roots are coated with a poisonous substance the plants may 

 absorb the poison and store it in the cucumber. This is an ob- 

 jection which has often been raised against the spraying of plants, 

 but it has been shown to be without foundation. It is true that 

 plants may take up copper compounds from the soil, but not in 

 sufficient quantity to make the fruit poisonous. Likewise^ the 

 leaves of land plants under certain conditions can absorb liquids, 

 but only to a very limited extent. 



A greater source of danger lies in the Bordeaux mixture which 

 falls on the fruit itself and is eaten with it. However, expert 

 chemists who have made analyses of sprayed grapes and other 

 fruits state that the amount of fruit which it would be necessary 

 to eat in order to get a poisonous dose of Bordeaux mixture is so 

 large that there is no danger. And since copper, the poisonous 

 property of Bordeaux mixture, is not a cumulative poison there 

 is no danger from small doses. 



But the most convincing proof that sprayed fruit is not poison- 

 ous, is the fact that although the spraying of potatoes, grapes, 

 apples, pears and other fruits is quite a general practice in some 

 parts of our country, no cases of poisoning have resulted there- 

 from. It will be remembered that when farmers first began to 

 use Paris green for the Colorado potato-beetle there were many 

 people who feared to eat the tubers of the treated plants. Now, 

 Paris green is almost universally used on potatoes without evil 

 consequences to consumers. 



Sprayed cucumbers and melons are certainly not poisonous. 



THE PREPARATION OF BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 



The ingredients used in the preparation of Bordeaux mixture 

 are copper sulphate, fresh lime and water, which are combined in 



